▲ This Yonhap file photo shows singer Kim Ho-joong. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE)(Yonhap)

 

SEOUL, June 24 (Yonhap) -- Singer Kim Ho-joong, who has been serving a prison term for a drunk-driving hit-and-run case, will be released on parole on June 30, his agency said Tuesday.

 

The agency said Kim recently passed a parole review conducted by the Ministry of Justice.

 

Kim was also considered for parole under a special Christmas amnesty program in December but was deemed ineligible at the time.

 

After receiving approval in the latest review, he will return to society about five months earlier than his originally scheduled release date in November.

 

Kim was indicted and detained on charges, including causing injury through dangerous driving under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes, after a traffic accident in Seoul in May 2024.

 

Prosecutors said Kim was driving under the influence of alcohol on Apgujeong-ro in Seoul's Gangnam district at around 11:44 p.m. on May 9, 2024, when he crossed the center line and collided with a taxi traveling in the opposite direction before fleeing the scene.

 

He was also accused of having his manager, identified only by his surname Jang, falsely surrender to authorities on his behalf.

 

Kim initially denied driving under the influence but admitted to the offense 10 days after the accident.

 

After being held at the Seoul Detention Center, he was transferred in August last year to Somang Prison in Yeoju, Gyeonggi Province.

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